Musings on running, wine, & life as I train for the 2016 San Francisco Marathon

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So howdy there. It has been awhile. Of course there is a good excuse–or rather, a bad one– an Achilles injury that has had me sidelined since October.

Insertional Achilles Tendonosis (not tendonitis).

Let me tell you, try not to have this happen to you. I’ve been confined to the elliptical for months. I long for a good long run. Fortunately, I’m in week 12 of 12 of the recommended “take it easy” period.

Obviously, I’m out of the LA Marathon this year, which is a bummer. It is a month earlier to accommodate the U.S. Olympic trials and there is no way I can get ready to run 26.2 miles in 6 weeks. Not after not running for three months, at least. So instead I will be volunteering at the Olympic trials.

Best weekend ever? Certainly a candidate. 3 concerts over 3 days with 2 bands I love. Florence and the Machine is a religious experience. The Foo Fighters are my true love. How can I go wrong? Ha. From beginning to end it was filled with amazing live music, friends, smiles, head banging, and epic, unforgettable concerts. Live music is my drug and I am a junkie for it.
Friday was Florence and the Machine at the Hollywood Bowl. Let me tell you, Florence is a revelation. She is amazing.

Saturday was the Foo Fighters at the Honda Center in Anaheim. I only see Foo GA so I can be as close as possible. It is only right. My love for Dave Grohl is huge. Met up with a high school classmate and friend and his wife right after as soon as the show was over. BGHS class of 87 in the house.

And today. OMFG TODAY. How do I do today justice? It. Was. Epic. Social Distortion and Foo Fighters played the Love Ride benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project in Castaic today. You guys. I can’t even with how amazing this show was.

Foo played a Foo song then a classic rock song. And it went that way thru the whole set. This is the Facebook status I posted right after the show:

Jesus fucking Christ. I cannot believe that just happened. foo Fighters song. Classic rock Song. We heard queen. Tom petty. Ac/DC. Van Halen. Bowie. Pink Floyd. Rod Stewart. THE STONES. And that is just the ones I can remember! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The foo fighters put on the best show of any band touring today. I am so so so very damn lucky. Set list forthcoming.

The Foos played Let There Be Rock by AC/DC. Under Pressure by Bowie and Freddie Mercury. Tie Your Mother Down by Queen. Miss You by the Rolling Stones. Plus many others!

Are you fucking kidding me? As I texted to my fellow concert junkie friend (who was there today) Jaime: “That show was a rock fan’s wet dream.” And it was. I cannot even believe that I was so damn lucky to be there for THAT.

So pics from today:

An update on my running or lack thereof this week. I don’t think I’m running the LA marathon. Urgent care after work tomorrow for a weird foot injury that has been nagging me for weeks. But I’ll let you all in on that later this week.

Just a quick post to brag a bit (and congratulate my Sigi!). My best friend and racecation/runventure partner in crime ran the Victoria Marathon today and CRUSHED IT. She ran a Personal Best of 4:49:39. SPEEDY!!

It has been an EPIC 5 weeks. From my annual trip to Vancouver for SeaWheeze, to my first Labor Dave weekend at the Gorge, to DMB in NorCal and SoCal, to Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, to the USC/Stanford game, to a great weekend with my brother in LA culminating in a truly epic Foo Fighters concert–possibly the best I’ve ever seen outside of the 2010 Troubadour show. I’m all filled up with happiness. Now it is time to get back to real life.

(Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals Friday at the Greek Theatre with Claudia)

There are many reasons you go to college. Important reasons. Career building reasons. But honestly, 24 years removed from college it is the friendships I made then and since due to our USC connection that ring truest and strongest to me. And I am so grateful for the fateful choice my 17-year-old self made the day I chose to attend USC. My USC friends are my family.
Then, last night, I got to go see my OTHER favorite band, Foo Fighters, at the Forum with my two favorite men – my brother Stephen and one of my dearest friends Randy. It was Stephen’s first Foo show and a truly epic night. My feet hurt. My ears are still ringing. My neck is sore from all the head banging. I’m exhausted. And it was so worth it.

Marathon training starts for me this weekend. Garbage at the Greek, Florence and the Machine at the Bowl (unless I sell those and go to Foo in Anaheim, which seems likely) and Foo Fighters and Social Distortion at the Love Ride 32 benefitting the Wounded Warrior Project are on the agenda for October.

My family is coming to LA for Thanksgiving. I am super excited for that.

It has been an enormous amount of fun but in retrospect 5 Dave Matthews band concerts in 9 days in 3 cities in 2 states spanning nearly 3,420 (RT) miles of travel with a full week of work inbetween MIGHT have been a bit much. I’m sick and exhausted but so so so happy.

Guaranteed I will forget this fact in February when the ticket lottery opens and I want to go to ALL THE SHOWS. ALL OF THEM.

Over the weekend I flew up to Nor Cal for DMB at Shoreline which was amazing. Met Claudia up there and then met up with Sunny, Jaime, Chantal, Cat, and Mary Ann. I absolutely adore the Shoreline venue. It is one of my favorite places to see a show.

I am so grateful for the friends and community I’ve met through my love of this band

Bright and early Friday morning (5a) Claudia, me, and our colds got up to head back to SoCal.

I checked into the Oakland airport on Facebook and lo and behold who was there and at the gate next to mine but one of my college BFFs Lynn and her husband. Got to catch up with them for a bit before their flight left.

I landed back in LA at 915a and headed home to sleep some more.

Saturday was the Irvine show and the annual epic Irvine DMB family tailgate.

These people. These friends. These sisters and brothers of mine. I love them dearly.

I was so exhausted at this show that I was on the verge of a meltdown.

This was the Last Stop for all of us and the DMB tour.

I got home at 1:30am and had to eat. This cold has robbed me of taste and I was starving. So Jack in the box it was. I almost never eat fast food so when I do, it is a treat.

Went to bed at 2am and completely turned my phone off. Woke up at 2:09pm. My beloved dog Kokomo let me sleep all that time without a peep! She is the best dog ever.

It has been an epic past 10 days filled with love, laughter, friends, and good music.

And now it is back to reality.

Saturday marathon training begins again.

And next Sunday my brother Stephen gets into town for the Foo Fighters at the Forum.

Well, since Los Angeles has decided to be the SURFACE OF THE SUN, I am boycotting running. Seriously, it was 106 today in my ‘hood. I ran 4 miles at 415am the other day and it was 86 THEN. WHAT THE EVER LIVING F*CK, right?

Plus, I’m on tour. Literally. My annual follow the Dave Matthews Band around for a week or so tour of awesome. This year I made my first trip up to Washington for the 3 nights of shows at the Gorge known as Labor Dave weekend. It was a total blast and I cannot wait to do it again next year. The Gorge is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. It is no wonder why people call it Heaven’s Amphitheater.

I camped! ME! And it was fun! But, to be fair, it also wasn’t much like camping. It was more like a 3 1/2 day long tailgate with thousands of other people that are as obsessed with this band as I am. Plus I had the best camp mates ever in Claudia, April, Russ, and Maia. We all had such a good time, no drama, and so much silliness our abs were sore from laughing and cheeks were sore from smiling. Plus I got to see my girl Amber again and meet her awesome friend Mary. It really was the greatest weekend ever in all ways. Even the snafus were all funny–mostly because they turned out OK. Re-entry into normal life has been rough. Labor Dave at the Gorge is basically Burning Man for Dave Matthews Band fans. I cannot wait for next year’s Labor Dave!

Claudia and I are just over Rashawn’s right shoulder in the 4th row.

Tomorrow morning I’m off to the SF Bay area for another DMB show and Saturday I’m off to Orange County for the final show of my personal tour. Five shows in eight days. Then the Davepression sets in. It is a good thing I have Ben Harper and Foo Fighters tickets for the following weekend! Live music is my thing, clearly. October has me at Garbage, Florence and the Machine, and the Foo Fighters again. Music is everything.

Training-wise I will kick things back up on Sunday when the DMB fun is over. I’m doing the Fall Into A Rhythm Bar Method fall challenge of 35 classes in 75 days. I joined the soon to open Orange Theory gym in my neighborhood and will do that once a week. I’m also hosting a community run on Wednesday nights starting next week open to all who want to participate. We will be doing hill training. TNB alums and Coyotes participating as well as people new to running. Then on the 19th, LA Marathon training starts with the Team NutriBullet Alumni. I am so grateful to have been a part of this team last year and so grateful to have the alums to train with this year. I’m so excited to really challenge myself and stick to the program. 🙂

Also, I’m excited to have been chosen to be a coach for Girls on the Run. I am so very stoked about this and cannot wait to be assigned to a school and start coaching 8-13 year old girls to run a 5K.

And that is what is going on here. The running updates will start again once marathon training kicks off. Until then, try and stay cool Angelenos (and others)!